Día de la Candelaria in Mexico

A very special time of the year in Mexico is the

celebration of

Día de la Candelaria

In Mexico this holiday is celebrated as Día de la Candelaria, known as Candlemas in English, because candles were brought to the church to be blessed. 

Día de la Candelaria is a follow-up to the festivities of Kings Day on January 6th, when families and friends break bread together, specifically Rosca de Reyes, a special sweet bread with plastic figures of the baby Jesus hidden inside. The person (or people) who received the figurines on Kings Day (January 6th)  are supposed to host a party on Candlemas Day. Tamales are the food of choice.

This is particularly a special time for the family of our daughter-in-law, Marcela.

For years her mother has "hosted" the event of clothing

the statue of the Virgin Mary for the celebration of

Día de la Candelaria.

The fabric that is used is exquisite.

The dress has been made by several different seamstresses

but it is always a creation to admire.

Before we left Mexico last week we were invited to

view the dress before it was placed on the statue.

This statue is several hundred years old and came from

Spain. As you can tell by the pictures, it is beautiful!

I am linking to

My Romantic Home
for Show and Tell Friday

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

 

Breakfast in Mexico - "Las Cazuelitas"

Breakfast at Las Cazuelitas...
fast food in Mexico!
(Hard to believe these pictures were taken just last Friday.)

My husband and son consider
Las Cazuelitas
the fastest and tastiest breakfast in
Tecoman, Colima, Mexico.
After my opportunity to "dine" there
 this past week, I will agree...
it IS fast... and oh so tasty!

A typical breakfast at this popular establishment is

Beverage
* jamaica - a sweet-tart tasting beverage made from the
the flower of the jamaica plant - which may look similar to a hibiscus flower
* horchata - a sweet rice water drink

Tacos
* shredded cooked chicken, chilies, onion, tomatoes, and Mexican cream stirred into it after the first
ingredients are cooked
* shredded cooked chicken with cubed squash, tomatoes, onions, white shoe-peg corn all cooked together
* shredded cooked chicken, slivers of nopalitos (cactus), onion, tomatoes, shoe-peg corn
* cooked "chicharron" - pork skin, diluted tomato
sauce, slivers of cooked onion

Toppings for tacos
* chopped cilantro
* chopped white onion
* thin sliced radishes
* fresh limes for juice
*sea salt

These taco ingredients are served in thin corn tortillas made right there on the spot. They double the corn tortillas to add
a little more substance to the meal as well as to help hold
the ingredients inside.

Yes... Las Cazuelitas is fast,
but it is also
soooo goooood!


I'm linking to
WOW Us Wednesdays

At Savy Southern Style
http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

and

What's It Wednesday
at

Ivy and Elephants

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

and

This is new to me... "Your Cozy Home Party"!

I'm so excited. Shannon just told me about it.

So here I go for the first time.

Come check it out.

http://cozyhomescenes.blogspot.com/

It looks like a lot of fun and it's

my kinda place!

and

http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/

Check out Full Plate Thursday!!

Home from Mexico

Lance, Marcela and Family

We had a wonderful time with family

in Mexico. Business might be only one of the forces

that takes my husband and me down South...

but celebrating our granddaughter's 8th

birthday was the true reason.

It is always a blessing to see your grown children

handle the challenges of work and family

(and I have to add... in a foreign country)

and see how they manage simply single-handedly.

Pictures will be posted later as we recoup from a

long day of travel...

but just had to post this picture!

I"m barely getting in on time for

Mosaic Monday at Little Red House.

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday, Carmen!!

Our precious Carmen was born

January 27, 2004.

She has always been such a ray of sunshine

and has given us so much joy.

Carmen is our first grandchild, but she is

also the first girl in our family.

Her love of fashion...

Her love of sports...

Her energy and sweet beauty

has been such a gift to my husband and me.

Carmen's grades are excellent and she is fluent

in English and Spanish.

She is active in her church.

She loves to help in the kitchen.

Having Celiac Disease is not easy, however,

Carmen has mastered the diet and is careful to follow it.

I love this picture. Carmen is in my kitchen and is wearing

an apron that my grandmother made for me.

 

We will travel to Mexico on Thursday where

our son and his family live

so that we can celebrate Carmen's eighth birthday.

We can't wait to see our girl!

Love you, Carmen!!

"Abuela"

Colonial Corn Bake - Talaquepaque, Mexico

As we plan to make a trip to Mexico for our granddaughter's birthday I have been reflecting on previous

trips as well as when we lived about 30 miles, down the coast from Manzanillo. So many great memories...

which of course includes food.

Colonial Fresh Corn Cake

is absolutely one of my favorites.

I blogged about it a couple of years ago,

but I'm bringing it back.

You can get a good look at it in the lower left-hand portion of my collage above. It is worth every step... and every bite!

Colonial Fresh Corn Cake

8-10 side dish servings


SAUCE
4 c. water
1 fresh poblano chile (about 3 oz.) stemmed, seeded and cut into thick strips
1 small green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and cut into thick strips
1 ½ c. (loosely packed) baby spinach leaves
¼ c. chopped white onion
3 whole cloves
2 garlic cloves, flattened
2 bay leaves
¼ c. (1/2 stick) butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 c. whole milk
2 teaspoons powdered chicken bouillon


CORN CAKE
4 c. fresh corn kernels (cut from 4 ears) – I used frozen corn
4 large eggs
1 c. whole milk
9 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt


SAUCE
Bring 4 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add poblano chile and next 6 ingredients; boil until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Transfer vegetables and ½ c reserved cooking liquid to blender. Blend chile mixture until smooth.
Melt butter in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add flour, whisk in milk, then blended chile mixture. Whisk sauce constantly over medium heat until it boils and thickens, about 3 minutes. Whisk in bouillon powder. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before using.)


CORN CAKE
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 13x9x2 inch baking dish with foil. Butter and flour foil. Working in 2 batches, puree all ingredients in blender until almost smooth. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until baked golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean… about 1 hour.

Invert cake onto platter. Cut into squares and serve warm with sauce.

Also pictured in this collage: Guacomole with tostados, tropical fruit compote with yogurt, tamarind margarita, shrimp bisque, fresh bread with butter wrapped in corn husk.
Restaurant - Casa Fuerte, Tlaquepaque, Mexico, a "town" within Guadalajara.

 

Friday you will find me joining in with other "Foodies"

for Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Don't miss out on some major mouth-watering recipes!!

"Juan Wayne" - it's what's for breakfast

"John Wayne"

If you were a kid at the ranch your dad, along with other dads, prepared "John Wayne" for breakfast.
This meant that all of the left over grilled meats prepared throughout the weekend were diced and cooked along with onions, tomatoes, bell pepper, maybe some left over baked potato... And the way the kids would eat it was to tell them,
"John Wayne eats this every morning for breakfast!"
It worked!!

So now along come the Petersons who cannot leave anything alone.. including the food.

I fried

bacon

I sauteed

red onion

red and green bell pepper

(Serrano chili would have been good, but didn't have any.)

I diced up the left-over meats

rib-eye steak

Polish sausage

buffalo sirloin

I then cut

4 corn tortillas

in almost 2" squares

and fried them in canola oil

until crisp. I drained them and sprinkled

sea salt over them. (No nibbling!)

Then the part I think is fun!

I buy raw flour tortillas... sometimes located where you

would find canned biscuits in your grocery store.

In a teflon pan heated to medium-high place a

raw tortilla

and allow it to puff up.

Flip.

Toast.

Place in a folded tea-towel.

(My opinon about tortilla warmers - the flour tortillas lose their delicate crispiness)

I didn't include a picture of beaten eggs but you know whata that looks like anyway.

Beat a

dozen eggs

Add a little milk and season with S&P.

Now...

Combine all of the sauteed veggies,

meats,

and fried corn tortillas

in a skillet.

Add beaten eggs.

Cook until done.

Scoop a serving of this delicious mixture

and place it in the warm flour tortilla.

Now, add a spoonful of salsa

and sprinkle with grated cheese.

There you go... with the Mexican twist to this,

it is now

"Juan Wayne"

Enjoy!

I'm linking to

Little Red House for

Mosaic Monday
http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

So sorry! Still having problems with Blogger.

When I try to comment on someone's post,

it freezes my computer!

I'm open to suggestions.

:-(

Also just found out it's only certain blogs

that I cannot post on.

????